Sri Lanka's Sinhalese nationalists stir hate and violence against minority Tamils

By Basil Fernando

Members of a Sinhalese heritage group, the Hela Urumaya, gathered in front of the British High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday to protest the visits of British Foreign Secretary David Milliband and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner.

Photographs of the protest showed Buddhist monks seated in front of the slogan-chanting crowd, while a large poster exhibited the photographs of Milliband, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Erik Solheim, the Norwegian minister for the environment and development with the slogan, “Wanted for Aiding and Abetting Terrorism.”

“We may have to take choppers and machetes, we will have to attack with choppers those who jump over the boundaries,” the protesters chanted, referring to Tamils trapped in the conflict zone.

The British and French diplomats were visiting to inspect the humanitarian situation of civilians trapped in the no-fire zone where the Liberation Tigers of Tami Eelam and government forces are engaged in fierce battles. Their visit, however, failed to persuade the government to temporarily halt the hostilities. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was denied a visa to join the delegation.

The foreign diplomats’ concern was for civilians trapped between the warring factions, estimated to be around 80,000 to 140,000 including women, children and the elderly. The call for humanitarian concern has been portrayed in the media and by extremist racist elements as an attempt to extend a lifeline to the LTTE. One of the placards read: “Gordon Brown, would you give a humanitarian lifeline to Osama bin Laden?”

According to reports, over 6,500 civilians have been killed and 14,000 injured due to shelling and the use of heavy arms since January this year. Over 175,000 persons are now internally displaced, including 110,000 people who have fled the no-fire zone.

The portrayal of concern for humanitarian issues and international law, even in the midst of a conflict, as treachery and invasion, is part of a national ideology promoted by the government through its supporters and through the media. The call to take up choppers and machetes reminds one of similar slogans used in places like Rwanda. This kind of ideology and propaganda has the potential to lead to massive violence. Instead of the war bringing an end to violence, what seems to be emerging in Sri Lanka is a further period of even more intense societal violence.

In provincial council elections held in the Western province on April 25, the two candidates who received the most votes both have had criminal charges brought against them – a politician facing several charges of rape in the High Court and a well-known businessman engaged in the gambling industry, who has faced several criminal charges in the past.

Election monitors reported more incidents of violence, including murder, during this election. The atmosphere surrounding the election is demonstrated by the fact that over 60 journalists left the country in fear of their lives. The Immigration Department restricted the issuance of visas for 837 persons, including foreign media personnel. The state media has been widely used for government propaganda and that of its supporters.

This raising of a war psychology and promotion of “nationalism” that sees the rule of law and democracy as a threat to sovereignty has for its ultimate aim the displacement of free and fair elections. The intimidation of the opposition and the silencing of voices that insist on the return to a stable society based on functioning institutions are the parameters in which the new political system functions.

The impact of this on civil society has been demonstrated in several incidents. Akmeemana is a remote village in the country’s south where the population is almost totally Sinhalese Buddhists. Kavin Rashmaka, two years and eight months old, and 10-year-old Thanuja Iragane were both killed while looking for Kavin’s tricycle.

The two children were brutally hacked to death in what was reported as a family dispute, where the assailants took revenge on Kavin’s father by killing the child. As Thanuja was a witness she was also killed. The bodies were hidden and discovered only a few days later when the police and villagers launched a search. The alleged assassin was immediately killed after his arrest and the villagers reportedly killed his father later. Both the crime and the manner in which justice was carried out are barbaric.

Also disturbing is that at the time of the murders Kavin’s mother and father were gambling at two separate locations, and the mother was reportedly not allowed to leave the gambling den as it is customary that no one leaves while the game is underway. So she was prevented from accompanying little Kavin when the child went looking for the tricycle. Buddhists shun gambling, but in this remote village it has become part of daily life, indicating the nature of social transformation taking place even in rural areas.

In another incident, a 13-year-old girl was forced to drink acid, which was also poured over her head as revenge against her parents who allegedly gave information to the police about an illicit liquor business in the area.

Incidents of lawlessness are reported from all over the country every day. There is no national consciousness aimed at consolidating a stable society based on democratic institutions and people’s participation. Instead there is a type of nationalism that attempts to direct people’s attention to real or imagined enemies. Lawlessness has become an integral part of this “nationalism” now promoted in Sri Lanka.

During calamities like the 2004 tsunami, money from donors is dispersed generously on behalf of internally displaced persons. However, such persons do not participate in the utilization of these funds. In fact, refugee centers may last for a long time purely to attract more donations.

What administrative and political measures will be taken to allow currently displaced persons to quickly return to their lands and their way of life? Or will they be kept under harsh conditions to provide satisfaction for those who wish to deal with national problems with choppers and machetes?

Meanwhile, there are serious concerns of a possible bloodbath in the coming week of civilians caught between the LTTE and the government’s armed forces. The nationalist propaganda to ignore the voices of senior diplomats from Europe and the United Nations may contribute to downplay this very real danger.

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(Basil Fernando is director of the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong. He is a Sri Lankan lawyer who has also been a senior U.N. human rights officer in Cambodia. He has published several books and written extensively on human rights issues in Asia. His blog can be read at http://srilanka-lawlessness.com.)